The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Computer-based processing systems are now found in practically every piece of modern consumer electronics. For example, residential gateways often include two or three separate processors in addition to a variety of other electronic hardware with each processor performing separate functions. By way of example, a first processor in a telecommunication device such as a gateway can be used solely for processing streaming media, such as voice over IP, television over IP, or video over IP, while a second processor in the telecommunications device may be used to perform a variety of applications, such as servicing the streaming media or even other applications like providing for interactive games and calendars. As used herein, the term “processor” can refer to an individual device as well as one processor of many in a multi-core processor device.
Although processor stability afforded by multiple processors may be desirable, using multiple processors comes at an appreciable costs. Conventional single processor solutions that theoretically are configured support both real-time media processing and a variety of other applications in a software layer are typically avoided because in conventional implementations the real-time media processing cannot be suitably protected should a “glitch” occur in a simultaneously running application program, or should a software update be required.